Starlites 50 Cynergi Depiro 119 (11-20) (10-37) (18-25) (11-37) Starlites had already beaten Depiro twice this season including a last seconds victory in the league however this time there was no chance for them as Depiro took the match in their hands from the early stages to ensure a comfortable victory. Depiro quickly opened the match with a 10-0 as David Bugeja (180-SG-92) opened his enormous match with a couple of hoops. There was also a Robert Bonnici triple as Depiro ended the sess... [read more]

Starlites 50Cynergi Depiro 119 (11-20) (10-37) (18-25) (11-37)

Starlites had already beaten Depiro twice this season including a last seconds victory in the league however this time there was no chance for them as Depiro took the match in their hands from the early stages to ensure a comfortable victory. Depiro quickly opened the match with a 10-0 as David Bugeja (180-SG-92) opened his enormous match with a couple of hoops. There was also a Robert Bonnici triple as Depiro ended the session 20-11 in front. The second period was worse for Starlites as they succumbed to Depiro's pressure in defence with Andrew Aquilina registering 10 steals. Aquilina netted a couple of treys as well as Depiro netted a 19-0 run to lead heavily at halftime 57-21. After the break Depiro kept hammering with another 13-0 run and although Starlites replied with points from Jacob Formosa (188-G-97) and Nikola Stankovic, Depiro's lead increased to 82-31. Depiro began the last quarter with a 10-0 run. They reached the century with a Bugeja basket after that Formosa sank a couple of triples for Starlites. Depiro ended the match with a 19-2 run to win 119-50 rendering the second encounter worthless.

In a very interesting match Gzira Athleta obtained a 4 point lead against Hibernians 81-77. Athleta suffered once more underneath the boards in what looks to be a weak point for them at this stage of the season, conceding a lot of offensive rebounds to their adversaries. With Spaniard Alvaro Lizaur and now Maltese Marco Matijevic combining well under the boards, Hibs opened with a 12-2 run as they took the lead after a Peter Shoults (168-G-85) triple for Athleta. In the second session, Athleta replied with a 10-2 run of their own led by Michael Naudi together with Roderick Vella and Josiah Whitehead. Hibs went in front once more but Athleta had another 7-2 run with two David Camilleri triples as they opened a six point advantage 49-43. After the break, Athleta increased their lead to 10 points 57-47 but Hibs replied once more as they went for a 13-2 run which had both sides on level terms at the end of the quarter 61-61. Athleta started well in the last session with an 11-2 run as they had treys from Shoults and Vella. Hibs didn't give up and replied with a 9-0 break that saw them reducing the gap to just one basket before Whitehead's final hoop which gave them a 4 point lead for the return match.

Similar to the previous match, this was a close encounter and qualification to the semi-final is still an open battle. JP Schembri opened with a trey for Luxol with Floriana quickly replying with a 9-2 run as Chad Patus netted his first trey of the match. There were more points on each side with Pierce Cumpstone (203-F-94) and William Ahlberg scoring for Luxol but Patus and Nicola Vasovic replied for Floriana who opened a 9 point lead 27-18. In the second quarter, Luxol reduced the gap to 2 points following an 8-0 run with more Cumpstone points. Patus replied for Floriana once more as they went for the break in front 39-35. In the third quarter, Luxol first managed to level the score 41-41 and then also taking the lead for three times after a CJ Cordina triple. However a Patus trey followed by a Vasovic hoop saw Floriana ahead once more 54-50. The last quarter had Floriana keeping their advantage as they had more treys from Patus and Vasovic. Luxol went in front once more with Cordina's points however Floriana ended the match with an 8-2 run which gave them a 5 point advantage for the second match.

Floriana MCP Car Parks 83 Gira Athleta 67 (15-17) (14-13) (36-11) (18-26) The game was quite balanced till the interval with Athleta leading by one point. However a strong run in the third quarter gave Floriana a 24 point lead which however was neutralized by Athleta in the first minutes of the last session. It was the fifth encounter between the two sides this season. Floriana, who only had seven players in their line-up, went ahead at 9-4 with initial hoops from Shawn Pace and Anton Ax... [read more]

The game was quite balanced till the interval with Athleta leading by one point. However a strong run in the third quarter gave Floriana a 24 point lead which however was neutralized by Athleta in the first minutes of the last session. It was the fifth encounter between the two sides this season. Floriana, who only had seven players in their line-up, went ahead at 9-4 with initial hoops from Shawn Pace and Anton Axiaq together with a Nikola Vasovic trey. Athleta replied with a 9-2 run to close the period in front 17-15. In the second quarter, Floriana re-gained their lead after another 8-2 run however points from Josiah Whitehead (198-F-86, college: Robert Morris) gave a slim advantage to Athleta at the interval 30-29. After the break, Floriana had 2 strong runs, 10-0 and 19-2 with points by Chad Patus and Vasovic to lead by 24 points, 65-41, with 10 minutes remaining. Athleta recovered well in the start of the last quarter with 19 consecutive points in the first four minutes with David Camilleri points together with Peter Shoults and Michael Naudi. Score was now 65-60 for Floriana who managed to make 12-4 run with Patus and Vasovic treys to regain a comfortable lead which saw them winning the game 83-67.

Luxol had only six men for this match but yet they were still good enough to beat Starlites in a high scoring match. Luxol got the initial points with an early 11-5 run including a Keith Dimech trey. Ivan Mitrovic replied with a triple for Starlites but William Ahlberg and JP Schembri also netted triples for Luxol who ended the first quarter in front 25-21. Play was again balanced in the second quarter as American Pierce Cumpstone (203-F-94) came more in evidence for Luxol offence as Jacob Formosa and Nikola Stankovic replied for Starlites in a 9-2 run. However Luxol were leading 42-40 at the interval. In the third quarter both teams had more treys with Ahlberg for Luxol and Stankovic and Mitrovic for Starlites. Luxol ended the period with an 11-0 run which gave them a good lead 69-55. In the last quarter Starlites tried hard to recover once more as they put an 9-2 run of their own however Luxol kept calm and slowly ended the game with a solid 15-2 run with more Ahlberg and Cumpstone points to win the game 89-68.

With less than 2 seconds for the end of the game, Hibs were leading by 4 points but a foul on a Bugeja three pointer and the converted free-throw forced overtime which went Depiro's way. Hibs had a lot of chances to win the game but a series of missed free-throws kept Depiro close enough to obtain their first league win. Depiro opened with an Andrew Aquilina trey but Hibs recovered well to make a 13-0 run as Spaniard Alvaro Lizaur combined well with Marco Matijevic under the boards. In the second quarter Depiro went in front after a Kurt Xuereb triple but there was another 9-0 run by Hibs including a Luke Farrugia triple. Two consecutive treys by Robert Bonnici cut the deficit to 7 points at the interval, 37-30. Depiro kept chasing Hibs after the interval however they kept giving offensive rebounds as under the board was dominated by the Hibs strong duo Lizaur-Matijevic. As the game came close to the end, it looked like it was going Hibs' way despite the continuous mistakes from the free-throw line. However Bugeja's 4 point play took the match into overtime. Depiro were now galvanized as they had two treys from Aquilina to take the lead and Hibs could only reduce the deficit with a Simon Attard triple but final points from Timothy Zammit gave Depiro the victory 83-79.

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